« India: Mosque Leader Arrested For Terror Links |
| Fundamentals of Islam: Understanding "The Verse of Tolerance" »
January 14, 2006
Pakistan: US Attack On "Islamists" Kills 18 Villagers
Yesterday, the US mounted a raid on a target in the village of Damadola, on the Pakistan side of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, states Reuters. The US had believed that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second in command in al-Qaeda (if bin Laden still lives), was in a house in the village, and launched an airstrike, believed to have been carried out by unmanned US drones.
The target of their attentions was not at the village, Pakistani officials claim, but three houses were destroyed, with at least 18 villagers killed. The victims included women and children. Pakistan condemned the attack and has summoned the US ambassador, Ryan Croker.
Al-Arabiya satellite TV stated that that Zawahiri (pictured, right), a former Egyptian eye surgeon, was still alive, according to its al-Qaeda connected source.
Pakistani intelligence sources have confirmed that Zawahiri is believed to have made visits to the Bajaur tribal region, where Damadola village lies, but say he was not at the village at the time of the airstrike.
Reuters states that days before this incident, Pakistan had criticised the US-led forces in Afghanistan. Their cross-border firing in the region of Waziristan last weekend had killed eight people.
Though Pakistan claims that the villagers were all local, there are counter-claims of "foreigners" being among the dead, and even a claim that a pro-militant Muslim cleric removed bodies of foreigners.
The border region, which is comprised mainly of Pashtun tribal peoples, is porous, and currently al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives have been living in the rugged mountain terrain. There is also extremism from at least one madrassa in the region, and in December conflict grew between the students (Taliban) and people they called "bandits" with several people killed on both sides. As recently as Tuesday, Islamists in Waziristan mounted an attack on a Pakistani army checkpoint.
It was reported that last weekend at Mosaki village in North Waziristan, a helicopter gunship came from across the border and attacked the house of a pro-Taliban Islamic scholar.
An explosion happened in the village of Haisori near Miranshah in North Waziristan on December 1, which Pakistani authorities said was caused by Islamists accidentally triggering one of their own bombs. It was later revealed that one of the five people killed in the blast was the number three in command of al-Qaeda, Abu Hamza Rabia.
Contradicting the official Pakistani reports, Haisori villagers and a local journalist, Hayatullah Khan, claimed a US Predator drone had targeted the house in an airstrike. Pakistan denied this. Khan produced photographs of shrapnel bearing English wording, and then he was mysteriously kidnapped, never to be heard from since.
UPDATE: 15 Jan. Today's Dawn states that demonstrations have taken place in the town of Inayat Kallay of Bajaur Agency on Saturday, in protest at the raid, with protesters shouting "God is great" and "Down with America". Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, a Bajaur tribal leader, addressed the rally, calling for the waging of jihad against America.
A mob however rampaged through the town, attacking shops which sold audios, videos, and also internet cafes. Some individuals broke into the offices of two Non-Governmental Organisations and the National Commission on Human Development for Bajaur Agency. Stationery, computers and furniture were damaged, and two motorcycles were set alight. To disperse the mob, security forces fired shots in the air and used teargas. 30 people were arrested for damaging public and private property.
UPDATE 2: Jan 16: The Times claims that it was only a fluke that al-Zawahiri was not killed in the attack at Damadola.
Pakistani intelligence officials have claimed that al-Zawahiri had been invited to a meal at the time of the airstrike, yet had failed to show up. Apparently, he sent some of his underlings instead. Investigators are now attempting to ascertain if any of the dead bodies from the strike belonged to these aides.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 14, 2006 1:54 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)